Tag Archives: Hilton

My friend Stefan at Rapid Travel Chai likes to tell people that I read through all the small print on credit cards so the rest of us don’t have to. 99% of the info is super boring, but every now and then, I found something worth sharing. I’ve been quietly following along with the Hilton news, but had nothing to add to the conversation at the time. If you want to learn more about the Hilton transition from Citi to American Express, check out this website that American Express created. A few days ago, I received an envelope from American Express with details of the transition. I had read all about the transition on other travel blogs, mainly Frequent Miler and Doctor of Credit, but I read the small print to see if there were any diamonds in the rough. I will share what I found below.

Do you sleep well in hotels? Maybe that’s even too broad a question to be asking, or maybe you have a simple yes or no answer. Friends, knowing I spend a lot of nights each year in hotels, often ask if I sleep well in hotels and if I have any tips for them. It turns out, when I started talking with other travelers about this, many people don’t sleep well in hotels! That being the case, I thought I’d offer up some ideas and tips. As we all know, sleeping well, and especially when we travel, really is essential to functioning well and enjoying our travels. Hotels are unfamiliar territory and often offer us obstacles to sleeping well, so we have to be strategic and creative in order to get a good night’s sleep.

Tip #1

Many of us are hotel loyalists. And with each hotel chain, comes a certain bed type and mattress brand. Chances are you’re nodding your head and thinking about how you sleep better at a Westin on their bed versus at a Hyatt on their bed. It does take our bodies time to get accustomed to mattresses, so take this into account when looking at and booking your hotel options. You can also ask the hotel what their mattresses are made of. If you’ve ever slept on foam, for instance, you’ll know that these mattresses don’t breathe well. No matter how high you turn up your air conditioning, it’s likely you’ll still sweat and heat up. Cotton mattresses do tend to keep you cooler and this often leads to a better night’s sleep.

Good morning everyone, happy Friday! I am heading up to Sacramento for a wedding this weekend (sorry, no Sacramento travel meetup like last time), but I have a quick post to share that could save you some precious(?) Hilton Honors Points. Back in August, my girlfriend and I booked a 2 night stay at the DoubleTree San Diego Downtown hotel for 39,000 Hilton Honors Points per night (78,000 points total).

Recently, I was looking through my existing Hilton reservations. I decided to see what the current paid and points rate were for the same hotel on the same dates. To my surprise, the price went down to 35,000 Hilton Honors Points per night (70,000 points total). I canceled the original reservation and 78,000 Hilton Honors Points were refunded back to my Hilton account. I then rebooked the same hotel for the same dates using only 70,000 Hilton Honors Points. I know saving 8,000 Hilton Honors Points is not a tremendous amount of points, but that is 8,000 fewer points I need to MS for my next Hilton stay.

If you have any Hilton stays planned, or have been looking at Hilton properties and comparing hotel chain award stays, this sale will interest you! Hilton Honors promotion of 50% savings when you purchase points is ending on October 5th. To receive the 50% discount, you must purchase a minimum of 5,000 Hilton Honors points. This means $5.00 per 1,000 Hilton Honors points. Hilton members are allowed to purchase up to 80,000 Hilton Honors points a year. So if you need to add to your stash of Hilton Honors points for some planned stays, or are tapped out and need some points, this is as good a deal as Hilton offers. Your points will post to your account within 24 hours.

My favorite use of Hilton Honors points was for a 5th night free stay in Budapest where I enjoyed 5 nights for the cost of 4 nights worth of points. They have my favorite Hilton lounge! I’ve also learned a lot about how to maximize my Hilton points from reading Ric at Loyalty Traveler. He’s great at creating category charts that show the Hilton properties around the world. I particularly enjoy the value of Hilton points in Europe. Here are some pics of the Hilton Budapest lounge:

Good morning everyone, I hope your weekend is going well. During my OC Travel Meetup last weekend, I learned that there are several ways to track your spending on the Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card. I was only aware of the old school way (exporting data and opening Excel to add up the charges), so I am happy to share the much simpler and faster ways to track your spending. There are 2 main reasons for tracking your spending on this credit card – you get a free weekend night certificate when you spend $10,000 during your cardmember year; you will earn Hilton Diamond Elite Status when you spend $40,000 during your cardmember year. Unfortunately, American Express will be the sole issuer of Hilton credit cards starting on January 1, 2018, so it is still unknown what will happen to Citi Hilton credit cards. If your annual fee is billed before January 1, 2018, you should still get the perks of spending on your Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card.

With all the said, let’s get started with the first and probably the easiest way to track your Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card spending. Sign into your Citi online account and click on your Citi Hilton Honors Reserve Credit Card account.

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